Label: Q Division
Released: June 2007
Soul and R&B have in many cases become so wrapped up in the influence of hip-hop that they’ve forgotten their own identities. When things like this happen, sometimes it’s best to hear someone get back to basics to reclaim a genre that’s losing itself. Eli “Paperboy” Reed and the True Loves may be just such a band.
Don’t get me wrong, they won’t save soul singlehandedly, but they should at least remind the purveyors of modern soul what they’re missing. “Paperboy” doesn’t have a technically amazing voice. It’s very, very good, but what really makes him a fantastic singer is that he really digs in like he’s singing these songs from the tips of his toes. This is on top of a band that is thoroughly solid. The True Loves know themselves and what they want to be and they succeed.
“The Satisfier” is an upbeat soul song that beams with emotion and fun. The flipside, “It’s Easier” is a ballad that shows off the group’s real abilities on a song that wouldn’t hide any inadequacies. Together, they show the group’s ability to convey energy at both ends of the spectrum.
Eli “Paperboy” Reed and the True Loves are perhaps a bit like an evened out James Brown or a rough Marvin Gaye. That may sound like a backhanded compliment, but it’s not, because they’re a lot closer to Brown and Gaye than they are to much of what passes for soul today. One listen makes it clear that they mean what they sing; they really are the “satisifer.”
Rating: 7/10